Top 10 Best SNL Weekend Update Characters of All Time

MsMojo

Get ready for some truly bizarre guest correspondents and the wild antics they brought to the news desk! Join us as we shine a spotlight on the most memorable, hilarious, and utterly unforgettable personalities to ever grace the Weekend Update segment of Saturday Night Live. From awkward teens to dramatic icebergs, these characters always stole the show and left audiences in stitches with their unique takes on current events and personal stories.

Transcript

00:00You need to grow up, Seth, because there are some people in Africa right now where it's

00:06like, no.

00:07Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're looking at the Weekend Update characters who have

00:11remained alive in memory even after their time behind the desk ended.

00:15So I yelled at us, hey, doctor, flick that sweatball off your nose, ready time to go,

00:21man, Seth?

00:23Number 10, The Iceberg That Sank the Titanic.

00:26I just think that a lot of people might rather hear about the Titanic, you know.

00:32Oh my god, okay, wow, okay, fine, you want to do this?

00:36Let's do this.

00:36First of all, you came to where I live and you hit me.

00:40Sometimes SNL can be as random as it gets, and considering they did a skit about an actual

00:45iceberg, there really is nothing off the table.

00:49Bo and Yang puts a hilarious spin on it, still bitter about the Titanic incident.

00:53Sick of being painted as the villain, The Iceberg explains why he's the real victim.

00:58I'm literally injured, but all anybody cares about is that like 40 or 50 people died or

01:04whatever.

01:05Well, it was 1,500 people.

01:06Why are you attacking me?

01:09After all, wouldn't you be a little upset if you were just minding your business and a

01:13giant ship just crashed into you?

01:15Although a bizarre one-off character, Yang's commitment to the bit turns The Iceberg into

01:20a viral sensation.

01:21Hey, white star line, you built a bad boat.

01:26It didn't work out.

01:28That's on you, honey.

01:29Now can we please talk about my album?

01:33Not even Yang knows why people loved it so much, but maybe the mystery is exactly why the

01:38character became so popular.

01:40Number 9.

01:40Jacob Silge

01:41Whether going over the top or full on deadpan, Will Ferrell showed some of his best range

01:47as Jacob Silge, a character with voice immodulation syndrome.

01:50VI is a recognized psychomedical condition that you may have read about in Newsweek or

01:56Cracked Magazine.

01:59Numerous prominent Americans suffer from this debilitating disease, Tina.

02:04Each sketch starts with Silge promising serious commentary on current affairs.

02:08However, he's always interrupted by the Weekend Update anchor questioning his eccentric behavior.

02:13By the end, Silge abandons the topic entirely to rant about his condition instead.

02:18No wonder I'm a 40-year-old, 8-year-old virgin.

02:22Right.

02:22Well, Jacob, thanks for coming out.

02:24Boy, Jacob, you could have taught these people a lot about China tonight.

02:30We never learn exactly what he was supposed to be commenting on, but we do get an earful

02:34about what it's like to live with voice immodulation syndrome.

02:37There's no such thing as an inner voice when it comes to Jacob.

02:40Not when the audience hears every word loud and clear.

02:43Excuse me, Michael Shea, but I'm having a private, quiet conversation with Colin right

02:49now.

02:50Except I can hear you.

02:51Because I have a disease.

02:53Number 8.

02:54Jacob, the Bar Mitzvah Boy.

02:56And was it fun spending time with your bubby?

02:58Easily among SNL's most underrated cast members, Vanessa Bayer could disappear into any persona.

03:10As Jacob, she perfectly embodies the role of an excited but nervous youngster with no

03:15improvisational skill.

03:17The wholesome setup of the sketch and Bayer's seamless chemistry with every anchor quickly

03:21made Jacob one of SNL's most beloved recurring characters.

03:25On the first day, God said, let there be light.

03:28And on the second day, he said, let there be Derek Jeter and the New York Yankees.

03:35Dressed in his trademark attire and awkward energy, Jacob is thrown off track each time

03:40an anchor tries to engage in conversation.

03:43The gag grew even funnier when we were introduced to his equally socially awkward father, who

03:48just so happens to be none other than Billy Crystal.

03:51I remember the moment you were born.

03:54Your mother was screaming, I'm not doing this again.

04:01Number 7.

04:03Garth and Cat.

04:04While most of SNL's comedy comes from performers reading cue cards, it's the moments of pure

04:09improv that deliver the biggest laughs.

04:11As the folk singing Garth and Cat, Fred Armisen and Kristen Wiig come up with jokes right

04:16on the spot.

04:29Despite always showing up late, the two are never prepared for their routines.

04:33But that doesn't stop them from throwing things off the cuff.

04:36Armisen recites whatever comes to mind, while Wiig hilariously tries to catch up.

04:41And we march.

04:45And we march.

04:46And we march up and down the street, looking for sales.

04:48Looking for our sails.

04:51Hula hoops.

04:52If watching the cast break is what you love, then these sketches are a gold mine.

04:56So is there ever any point to what they're up to?

04:58Not even a bit.

04:59But do we laugh every time?

05:01You know we do.

05:03Flatter, flatter, flatter, on time.

05:06On time.

05:07Don't be late, late, late.

05:09Don't be late.

05:10Because we're gonna complain.

05:12Complain.

05:13Complain.

05:14Number 6.

05:15Opera Man.

05:16The Donaldo es el dedo.

05:18She's a man, no huge prenup, oh.

05:22Mother's got him by gold metal.

05:25Adam Sandler has built a career on a very specific form of humor that only he can pull off.

05:31Opera Man might seem very on brand for him now, but it was a breakout sensation during

05:36his early days in show business.

05:37Dressed to the gills in operatic attire, Sandler belts out news stories in a blend of English

05:43and fake Italian phrases.

05:54Drumming out consistently to the same beat, Opera Man turns even the most mundane events

05:59into a riotous headline.

06:01Absurdly emotional and ridiculously inappropriate, the character paved the way for Sandler.

06:06Sandler's more outrageous roles to follow.

06:20It was only fitting when the actor busted out one more rendition of his long-awaited

06:24SNL return, stealing the show like he'd never left.

06:27I've got to be back, now I get a snack.

06:31Opera Man, bye bye!

06:37Number 5.

06:39Roseanne Rosanna Dana.

06:40Arguably responsible for turning recurring characters into a permanent weekend update feature,

06:46Gilda Radner's timeless Roseanne Rosanna Dana continues to stand tall.

06:50I, Roseanne Rosanna Dana, don't like to walk around with no clothes in front of other people.

06:57Not that I don't have a great body, but why should I waste it on a bunch of fat ladies

07:03in a health club?

07:04Although introduced as a consumer affairs reporter, Rosanna Dana never actually gets to the point.

07:10Instead, she reads letters from her favorite viewer, then wastes everyone's time with completely

07:15irrelevant anecdotes.

07:17What do health clubs, sweat, and saunas have to do with cigarettes?

07:22Well, gents, it just goes to show you, it's always something.

07:27If it's not one thing, it's another.

07:29With her thick New Jersey accent and wildly exaggerated bad hair day look,

07:33Rosanna Dana goes into painful detail about bad personal hygiene and strange encounters.

07:39Did you ever look underneath your tongue?

07:42It's all blue and white and pink and it's real soft and bumpy and it's got this real

07:48thin piece of skin that you're always afraid it's gonna rip?

07:50Despite only playing the character for three years, Rosanna Dana became so popular that

07:55Radner portrayed the character in a grand total of 17 appearances.

08:00Number 4, Bennett Brower.

08:01With such an unforgettable presence, it's hard to believe that Bennett Brower only appeared three

08:07times on SNL.

08:08Chris Farley brings his A-game as the character, spiraling into an entirely different tangent

08:13from the social commentary he's supposed to provide.

08:16So they can get back to watching commentators who don't frighten children and don't eat

08:22their own dandruff and don't hop their whiteheads with a compass they used in high school.

08:28Bitter and resentfully sarcastic, Brower's pent-up rage is the perfect platform for some

08:33of Farley's greatest hits.

08:34Although Matt Foley will always be Farley's signature SNL character, Bennett Brower remains

08:39immortalized in Weekend Update history.

08:42In one of the segment's most memorable moments, Farley's soaring above the audience became

08:57an iconic visual from the show and a constant reminder of the late star's comedic genius.

09:02Number 3, The Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started a Conversation With at a Party.

09:17A list about the best Weekend Update characters without this one?

09:20That would be, as she would say, unconscionable.

09:24Cecily Strong came up with this hilariously out-of-touch valley girl based partly on herself

09:28and on people desperate to sound politically correct.

09:32There are homeless people out there who can't even pay their mortgages.

09:39Is that what George Washington had in mind when we started America?

09:43With her host of pseudo-intellectual facts, personal attacks, and constant attempts at virtue signaling,

09:50the The Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started a Conversation With at a Party lives and breathes her label.

09:54Close your eyes, son.

09:56Watch.

09:56No, close them.

09:57Watch.

09:58Open up.

09:59Whoa.

10:02Welcome to America, Sam.

10:05A satirical take on the rise of armchair activism and social media moralizing at the time,

10:11the character rings true even more today.

10:13Though she appeared just once after 2016,

10:16her peak left a lasting impression that few SNL characters could ever hope to follow.

10:21Open your eyes, people.

10:23We all know that one older relative who's entirely inappropriate and operates without filter.

10:36Bobby Moynihan's drunk uncle turns this up to an 11.

10:40Do you have any advice on how to deal with family?

10:43I found out that my niece is getting gay married.

10:47You know what I'm going to get her for a wedding present?

10:50The boyfriend.

10:51Incoherent, rambling, and completely nonsensical, he has a lot to say with no point to get across.

10:58Drunk uncle is someone who's watched the world move on without him and decided to complain about it instead.

11:03If you go watch the NFL anywhere, then why can't I watch it on the damn toilet, Linda?

11:13He may disapprove of just about everything, but his diatribe is largely harmless.

11:18Despite his archaic worldview, Moynihan brings a likably goofy charm to the character.

11:23So when he stumbled back onto Weekend Update after a long hiatus, the audience's warm reception showed just how much fans had come to love this oddball.

11:32I saw bros in theaters, pal.

11:35Okay, and no homo?

11:37It was great.

11:39Okay, I said it before and I'll say it again.

11:41Gay guys are still funnier than women.

11:43Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

11:48Goober the Clown.

11:49Cecily Strong used humor to shed light on a highly divisive topic.

11:53And I wish I didn't have to do this, because the abortion I had at 23 is my personal clown business.

11:58But that's all some people in this country want to discuss all the time, even though clown abortion was legalized in Clown v. Wade in 1973, here.

12:07Father Guido Sarducci, Don Novello's incredibly popular character transcended far past the Weekend Update desk.

12:14And the reason is because of the price of a gasoline, so expensive, $2.50 a gallon, people just can't afford to drive it to the shrines.

12:24So I says to him, you know, where is that old walk-on-the-water spirit?

12:28Tommy Flanagan, the pathological liar.

12:30Originating on The Tonight Show, Weekend Update brought major fame to John Lovitz's breakout character.

12:36Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.

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13:00If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.

13:06Number 1. Stefan. Who else could it be?

13:10Bill Hader's iconic character took us across New York's hottest clubs for years, even if he could never get through any of his monologues.

13:18New York's hottest club is taste.

13:20Oh, no.

13:21Nightlife designer Tranny Griffith is back with an all-new club that answers the question.

13:25Huh?

13:26Co-created with John Mulaney, Stefan's signature character breaks became part of SNL legend.

13:32Every appearance is wild, chaotic, yet somehow endearing.

13:36Reportedly, Mulaney would switch cue cards at the last minute, forcing Hader to read wild new punchlines in real time.

13:44Have you heard of Blackula the Black Dracula?

13:47Yes.

13:47Well, they have a Jewish Dracula.

13:51Oh.

13:52What's his name?

13:53Sidney Applebaum.

13:57Of course, his constant will-they-won't-they romantic tension with Seth Meyers also kept us invested for years.

14:03And when it was time for his last appearance as an SNL regular, the show gave him the grand farewell he deserved.

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